Staying Friend's
by danceswithsmurfs
Summary: "That night he cried and I held him. It was the first time we really connected, and the first time I began to realise how I felt."


**Hiya :) So I used to write loads of South Park FF, but I haven't in, like, forever... So I deleted all my old stories and imma start again, this is the first thing I've written :) It's a short Stenny oneshot, cuz despite what most people say, I LOVE Stenny :D Anyways, they are meant to be about 16-ish here, age isn't entirely important, and the bits in italics are flashbacks. Reviews are always encouraged :P So, yeah... Enjoy :)**

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><p>'Goodnight Stanley.' My mom smiles, pulling my bedroom door shut as I say it back to her. The door closes and I'm alone. Sighing, I walk over to my bed and collapse on it. I'm exhausted; today has been one of the worst days of my life. A sleepless night, followed by two surprise tests, more homophobic abuse from Cartman, earning a detention for lack of completed homework, then having to come home to pissed off Shelly and my parents yelling at me for nearly everything I do. I groan, wishing like crazy that I could be somebody else, anybody else, right now. My hand reaches up and pulls my hat from the top of my head.<p>

Everybody always rips on me for still wearing it after all these years, they all grew out of hats, but I don't care. I think Kyle looks better with his green ushanka on, rather than his ginger hair straightened in a wig-like fashion. He looks like somebody poured syrup on his head and it stuck, but I'd never say that to my best friend. With Cartman, anything is better than his mess of brown hair. The more of his face covered up, the better. Kyle and Cartman changed their looks when we were ten, but Kenny stopped wearing his orange parka when we were just eight. He told us that he didn't like it anymore, that he preferred just wearing a t-shirt in the freezing cold, and I believed him. That is, until a week later when I had stayed over at his house and seen it in a trashcan, burnt and sodden. He said his Dad had gone mental again, tried to set it alight in a fit of drunken rage then thrown it out in the snow. I knew how much he loved that damn parka. We all had our signature looks and that was his, it was his way of forgetting about all the stuff happening at home and just being 'one of the guys'. That night he cried and I held him. It was the first time we really connected, and the first time I began to realise how I felt.

When we were ten me, Kyle and Kenny promised each other that we'd always stick together. It wasn't long before that fell apart, though. It started out with little things, like Kenny stopping hanging out with us after school. Soon, he stopped hanging out with us on weekends as well. The only time I would ever see him was during school, but he slowly grew more and more distant...

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><p><em>'Hey dude.' Kyle sighed, walking up and collapsing against the locker next to me. His body slumped lazily and he yawned.<em>

_ 'Hey Kyle, you alright?' I asked. He lifted his head up so he was looking at me directly. His eyes seemed vacant and lifeless._

_ 'Y-Yeah, sorry man, just tired is all.' He yawned again, rubbing his face sleepily._

_As the flow of people through the corridor increased, I began searching the crowd for signs of Kenny._

_ 'Kyle, have you talked to Kenny much recently?' I asked._

_ 'Uhh, nope. Never seems to be there when I call his house, doesn't come round to mine ever.' Kyle's eyes were shut and he was evidently having a hard time staying awake._

_ 'Yeah, me neither, it's weird...' I muttered, trying to think of some sort of explanation for Kenny's actions the last couple weeks. Another few minutes passed in silence, Kyle oblivious to the world around him and me still looking for my other best friend, before I felt a tug on my jacket._

_ 'Stan, we need to get to class or we'll be late. Maybe Kenny just went ahead without us.' Kyle said, glancing anxiously at his watch. Tired or not, he was still a perfect student. Straight A's, no detentions, never late._

_ 'Yeah...' I said, not wanting to leave without Kenny, but I knew that I had to. 'Yeah, let's go-' I stopped mid sentence as the small blonde head of Kenny McCormick appeared. He was on the other side of the corridor from us, his head hanging low as though he didn't want to be seen. But he had and I rushed over to him._

_ 'Kenny! How come you're so late? And where have you been? Me and Kyle never see you anymore, you never hang out with us! What's been happening?' My flurry of questions overwhelmed him slightly and he backed up against the wall. That's when I noticed the other side of his face, the side I couldn't see before. His right eye was puffed up, a strange blacky-purplish colour, and there were a few small gashes around his eye._

_ 'Oh my God, Kenny! What the hell happened?' I screeched, taking a step back with shock._

_ 'I-It's nothing, it-' He muttered quietly, holding up a hand to cover it avoiding eye contact._

_ 'Kenny! Sweet jesus!' I heard Kyle shout from behind me, causing several people to stop and stare. 'Kenny, your face! W-What happened to your face?' He rushed over and instantly pulled Kenny's hand away, staring at the black eye, poking and prodding at it, all the while attacking him with a ton of questions, and making quite a bit of noise in the process. Kenny shoved Kyle away from him roughly, causing him to stumble and I caught his arm, keeping him balanced. Staring at both of us and the small ring of curious school children that had formed, all whispering and gossiping, Kenny took a step back._

_ 'Look, just leave me alone! Leave me alone, all of you!' He yelled forcefully, before violently pushing his way out the circle and running off down the corridor. All I could do was stare in disbelief at what just happened. Kyle was next to me, holding a hand up to his open mouth in that feminine way of his. I could feel as the rumours form around us._

_ 'I bet his psycho mom did it.'_

_ 'He was caught stealing from the mob so they beat him up.'_

_ 'No, he was trying to rape a girl and she pepper sprayed him and punched his eye.'_

_ 'He was being raped, that's how it happened.'_

_As much as I wanted to defend him, I couldn't. There was nothing I could do or say to the crowd because I knew as little as they did about what had happened to Kenny._

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><p>That was the turning point. Ever since that day, Kenny disappeared from my life. He wouldn't talk to us, me or Kyle, at all anymore, in or outside of school. At break and lunch he was nowhere to be found. He began coming into school less and less, and more often with unexplained injuries. His already-skinny body grew thinner still and he took up smoking. Whenever I did see Kenny after that, I felt like crying. He had once been one of my best friends, a boy I looked up to for being so resilient despite his fucked up home life, so defiantly happy regardless to whatever went on behind closed doors with his parents. Yet now, he was broken. He had been worn down, by his abusive, junkie, alcoholic and penniless parents, his wreck of a house, the cruelty and injustice of his life. He wasn't the happy, playful boy he used to know anymore, he was a shell, and that scared me.<p>

Using what little energy I have left, I pull myself upright and look out my bedroom window, staring at the sunset on the horizon. The sky is lit up with a thousand sparkling gems of light, red and yellow danced above the roofs. It's beautiful, but I don't care. Something else has caught my eye, something on the streets below. Trudging along the pavement is the blonde mess of hair I've missed so badly. Realising that is is Kenny I was staring it and not Butter's or somebody else, I run from my room, grabbing a coat and my trainers, and bolting out the front door.

'Kenny! Kenny, hey!' I yell, jogging up next to him.

'H-Hey Stan...' He grumbles, not looking at me.

'Dude, are you alright?' His face is bruised in several places and he's shivering with the little clothes he has on.

'I'm fine, I just-' Kenny tried to walk away, but I grab his arm.

'No. No, Kenny, you're not okay. C'mon.' I pull him roughly in the direction of my house. At first, he resists, but then gives in, knowing I'm stronger than him. Within a few minutes, Kenny finds himself sat down on my sofa with a warm cup of tea in his hands. It's late, past midnight, so the rest of my family are all in bed, but regardless, I feel an urge to hide Kenny up in my room, just in case anybody happens to walk downstairs and start asking questions that I don't want to answer.

Once in my bedroom, Kenny looks the place over and smirks.

'Looks just like I remember it.' He says, with a small smile that reminds me of the boy I used to know years ago.

'Yeah, well... Not much has changed, I guess.' Is the best answer I can come up with. I notice that he's still shivering and hasn't drunk any of the tea I gave him, having set it down on the desk where my computer sat. I guide him over to my bed and he sits down without any complaint, evidently too tired or simply uncaring to put up a fight. On my bed, next to me, Kenny's head is hung low, the bruises on his face catching my attention again.

'Wait here.' I say, jumping up and rushing out the room. He doesn't react. In less than thirty seconds, I return with a bottle of antiseptic and a tissue. Kenny gives me an odd look when I walk up to him holding the bottle.

'My mom kinda turned into a health freak.' I explain. He simply nods slightly and looks back down at his feet, still silent. Unscrewing the lid, I pour some of the antiseptic onto the tissue, and move it towards his face.

'Put your head up.' I say. 'This might sting a little.' He winces as the tissue touches the first bruise, but manages to stay more or less silent.

'So, are you going to tell me?' I ask. Kenny gives me a confused look. 'The bruises. Your Dad?' I venture a guess.

'Y-Yeah.' He says quietly, nodding slightly. I carry on dabbing at his face. 'I knocked over a plate, it smashed, and h-he-' Kenny trails off, a small tear forming in the corner of his eye. Noticing this, I stop treating his wounds and stick both my arms around his shoulder, pulling him into a hug. I feel him break down, sobbing and shaking in my arms, and I stroke his hair soothingly. This is exactly like that night when we were kids, the night I realised how different life for Kenny is than for me or Kyle. And just like that night, I have no idea what to say.

'I-It's alright. It's gonna be alright.' Is all I can come up with, and I repeat it over and over.

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><p>We stay like that for about an hour. Kenny eventually quietens down and stops shaking. It takes about ten minutes before I realise that he's fallen asleep in my arms. I slowly lay him down, head on my pillow, eyes shut tight. I sit and watch him sleeping for a little while, pushing a lock of blonde hair out of his eyes, before lying down next to him, pushing my face up next to his so that our noses are almost touching. I'm exhausted and already I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I take one last look at the boy in front of me, the one I'd spent so many nights crying over, the one I miss more than anything in the world. My eyes fall shut and I can feel his warm breath on my cheeks. Drifting off to sleep, I open my mouth and whisper,<p>

'I love you.'


End file.
